It’s almost the end of 2008, and the AfterEllen.com staff, bloggers, vloggers, recappers and writers are taking a much-needed break today through Jan. 5, 2009.
But for those of you who want a break now and then from all the shopping, eating, and hugging of relatives you haven’t seen in a year, I’ve created this list of things you can do on the site while we’re gone. I hope you’ll discover at least a few things you haven’t read or watched or done before.
If nothing else, just reading this list ought to burn up an hour or so!
So here they are, in no particular order:
Read The 2008 AfterEllen.com Visibility Awards, compare the results to previous years, and see how much (or how little) has changed.
Browse through all the single AfterEllen.com members (Apologies in advance for the messy display! We’ll be fixing that soon.)
Keep up on all the latest Lindsay Lohan/Samantha Ronson news through our previous blog posts and articles, and in the related forum thread.
Learn more about those Norwegian handball players everyone keeps talking about (Gro Hammerseng and Katja Nyberg).
Watch all the music videos on AfterEllen.com.
Add a video to your profile by clicking on “My Account” then “edit” then “video” (all links located near the top of the page). Then paste the embed code in the field provided.
Watch Mary-Louise Parker help Cat Davis pick up women (literally and figuratively).
Prepare for the sixth and final season of The L Word by reading Scribegrrrl’s fifth-season recaps, StuntDouble’s fifth-season Facebook feeds, Dara Nai’s take on the best and the worst of Season 5, Dorothy Snarker’s analysis of the Season 6 fashion, photos, and spoilery promo. Then discuss everything related to the show in our L Word section of the forum.
Relive the glory of the triumph of the lesbians at the 2008 Olympics.
Watch the entire first season of the dark, gritty web series Feed.
Cath up on the lesbian storyline on All My Children with our blog posts and articles, interview with Eden Riegel, and in our AMC forum thread.
Leave a message on someone’s Feedback wall on their profile. Just login and leave a message on another member’s profile page – about their avatar, their stated interests, their current status, or a comment they made on the site. If you want to ease into it, you can try it on my profile and just say hi 🙂
Watch Lena Headey play the roommate from hell in the season finale of Ghostella’s Haunted Tomb.
Learn about interesting TV shows in development, like Fables (based on the comic book); Bitches (female werewolves); the untitled Amy Poehler comedy (also stars Rashida Jones); Legally Mad (Kristin Chenoweth in a legal drama), Glee (Jane Lynch); untitled Lauren Graham sitcom; Cougar Town (Courteney Cox); Time Heals (Jada Pinkett Smith); and Lost and Found (Katee Sackhoff).
Find out which of the shows and women we like are nominated for Golden Globes this year.
Read about all the women who came out this year: Dunja Hayali (Germany); Wanda Sykes (U.S.); Lindsay Lohan (U.S.); Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez (U.S.); Sia (Australian).
Say goodbye to South of Nowhere by reading recaps of the last two seasons, and interviews with Mandy Musgrave and Gabrielle Christian; watching Mandy and Gaby pillow-fight with Bridget McManus on Brunch With Bridget; and watching Jenn and Dee video blog the last season on Come With Me if You Want to Live.
Watch teenagers talk to their parents about being gay/bi on MTV’s Sex…With Mom and Dad.
Read profiles of celesbian marriages in Celebrating Lesbian Marriage, and learn the history of lesbians weddings in film and TV.
Catch up on news about women in sports over the last several months with our Keeping Score blog posts.
Get up to speed about films in development with interesting women in them, like Tron 2.0 (Olivia Wilde); Portland (Erin Daniels); the Laurel Hester movie (Ellen Page), The Wrestler (Evan Rachel Wood); The Broken (Lena Headey); the Joan Jett biopic (Kristen Stewart); Jennifer’s Body (Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfriend); the Arrested Development movie (Portia de Rossi); K-11 (Kristen Stewart and Nikki Reed); Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Emma Watson); Fame; The Danish Girl (Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron); Sunshine Cleaners (Emily Blunt and Amy Adams); Lesbian Vampire Killers; and Bitch Slap.
Watch Liz Feldman interview/hit on Kate Moennig, Erin Daniels, Clementine Ford, Uh Huh Her, Tegan Quin, Emily Deschanel and others on previous episodes of This Just Out with Liz Feldman.
Read up on the mid-season comedies Cupid (Sarah Paulson), Better Off Ted (Portia de Rossi), and Dollhouse (Eliza Dushku).
Check out the music of other AE members (and promote your own).
Read the Jane’s World comic strip.
Revisit Jon Stewart’s greatest lesbian moments (pre-2008).
Watch Bridget judge me for a sordid incident in my past on Brunch With Bridget: Episode 10 (the one where we’re wearing bathrobes and I make Karman pillow-fight for me. Good times.)
Watch the first season and part of the second of the web series B.J. Fletcher, Private Eye, and speculate about whether Fletch and George will ever realize their true feelings for each other.
See how math and science are put to good use with Lesbian Scientistics.
Learn all about Los Hombres de Paco (Paco’s Men) – the Spanish drama with a lesbian couple that was just voted Best International Scripted TV Series with Lesbian/Bi Characters by AfterEllen.com readers – in our forum thread devoted to the show (lots of English recaps and explanations provided).
Read the AfterEllen.com Guide to Lesbloitation Movies, and see what happens when bad movies happen to good actresses.
Change the headline/status on your profile. (Go to My Account, and click next to your name to type in your status headline. Change whenever the mood strikes you).
Overdose on Gossip Girl mini-caps, news, and photos.
Watch Natalie Portman and Rashida Jones solve the world’s problems with puppies and kittens.
Prep for the Grammy’s in February by reading about which women were nominated.
Relive all the funny Tina Fey/Amy Poehler Saturday Night Live skits from election season.
Discover new books in two years’ worth of Across the Page.
Watch all 25 episodes of the first season of Cherry Bomb – again or for the first time.
Meet other fans in the Tegan and Sara forum thread.
Watch the Top 8 LGBT Political videos of 2008.
Weigh in on movies you are supposed to love but hate, which movies made you realize you were gay, and whether you’re more of a Sheryl Swoopes or Portia type of woman.
Watch all six episodes of the frenemy comedy Joni & Susanna.
Get fashion tips from our “Styled Out” blog posts and Alexi’s Closet video blog.
Catch on all the latest video game news, in written or video blog form.
Ask other AfterEllen.com members for advice about dating, coming out and other topics.
Read more lists! We’ve got 12 romantic pairings we’d like to see, 11 unintentionally scary lesbian moments, the Top 11 cinematic lesbian “reveals”, Karman and Malinda’s top 11 lesbian fashion accessories, Dara and Karman’s 10 hottest femmes, the top 9 rules of seduction in lesbian cinema, the top 8 embarrassing celesbrity moments, seven lesbian lessons from back-to-school movies and TV shows, and lesbian sex scenes that made movie history. Plus, every episode of Dara & Karman’s Hit List is a list (bad lesbian stereotypes, best couples, worst couples, etc.)
Finally, you can see who’s online right now, and add one of them as a buddy. Then you can see whenever they’re online at the same time you are. If you want, you can start with me – just don’t tell Lori if you see me logged on between now and Jan. 5. I’m supposed to be doing offline activities during the holiday break, like “reading” and “relaxing.” Whatever those are.
See you next year!
